From "Disruptor" to "Channel Provider": Meta's Seven-Year Transformation

Who would have thought that Libra, which once caused a global financial震荡, would now return in such a "humbled"姿态.
In the second half of 2026, Meta officially announced its return to the stablecoin track, but it is no longer the "visionary" who aimed to overthrow the existing financial order seven years ago. It has completely abandoned the obsession with building its own token and public chain, instead embracing compliant third-party stablecoins like USDC, narrowing its focus to quick creator settlements and cross-border payments, effectively transforming from a "disruptor" into a "payment channel service provider."
Regulatory Red Line: The "Genius Act" Bans the "Global Currency Dream"
This shift is more of a sober compromise under regulatory pressure than a strategic upgrade.
The implementation of the U.S. "GENIUS Act" in 2025 was almost tailor-made as a "red line" for tech giants like Meta.
The bill explicitly requires stablecoins to be 1:1 pegged to fiat currency, backed by sufficient reserves, and more harshly, it directly cites Libra as a "negative example" in its clauses, banning non-bank institutions from issuing stablecoins without special approval.
Meta cannot forget the lessons of the past: Libra was immediately targeted by global regulators upon announcement, partners like Visa and PayPal withdrew, and it was ultimately sold off in a fire sale for just $18.2 million.
Now that the regulatory framework is clear, going down the "central bank" route again is undoubtedly a dead end. Choosing compliance and integration is the most pragmatic way to survive.
Light Asset Betting: Stripe + 3 Billion Users' Precise Positioning
This time, Meta is fully adopting a "light asset" approach—delegating the core financial functions to others, while focusing on traffic aggregation.
The primary partner is almost certainly Stripe, which has been pre-positioned: Stripe CEO Patrick Collison is on Meta’s board, and Stripe’s 2024 acquisition of stablecoin company Bridge provides settlement and technical support.
Meta’s strategy is clever: tasks prone to regulatory red lines like settlement and reserve management are handed over to Stripe, while Meta opens up its Facebook and Instagram ecosystems with 3 billion users, piloting a "daily settlement" feature for creators—many platforms still pay monthly, and cross-border creators often face cash flow issues, so this pain point is well-targeted. Once the model proves successful, they plan to extend this payment system to WhatsApp, capturing the cross-border payment market.
Hidden Ambitions Under Compliance: Data Closed-Loop + Regulatory Concerns
Despite its conservative appearance, Meta’s long-term ambitions are hidden within this strategy.
By not issuing its own stablecoin, Meta avoids compliance risks and earns channel fees passively. More importantly, all transaction data can be accumulated to support its core advertising business—understanding user payment habits and consumption capacity naturally enhances ad targeting accuracy.
However, regulators are not so easily fooled. Senator Elizabeth Warren has already raised concerns, which are not unfounded: although Meta does not directly issue tokens, it controls account systems and settlement channels, effectively creating a "private currency network." Once scaled to 3 billion users, this could pose systemic financial risks.
Industry Signal: The Convergence of Web2 and Web3 Payments
From Libra’s "Global Currency Dream" to today’s "Compliance Tool Theory," Meta’s transformation is a microcosm of the entire stablecoin industry.
This marks the end of the once wildly growing stablecoin track, entering a new phase of "deep compliance," and also signals that the traffic dividends of Web2 and the payment infrastructure of Web3 are beginning to deeply intertwine.
In the future digital payment battlefield, it’s no longer about who can overthrow the rules, but who can deepen scenarios within the rules and serve users well— and with 3 billion users, even if Meta just acts as a "channel," it can still shake the entire landscape.